Effie 2002: Contract plunders awards with haul of four; Lowe bags one gold

The Effie Awards 2002, organized under the aegis of the Bombay Ad Club, were given away late last evening, following a two-and-a-half-hour-long presentation of the 11 case studies that had achieved Finalist status at this year's awards. And once the actual award-giving ceremony - which barely lasted 30 minutes - drew to a close, there really was no doubt about which agency had dominated the show.

Contract Advertising.

Of the nine awards that were given away (eight Effies and one ‘People's Choice Trophy'), Contract claimed four - including the Grand Effie, one gold Effie, one silver Effie and the People's Choice Trophy. (Incidentally, this is the second year running that Contract has lifted the Grand Effie.) The remaining five awards were shared by Lowe (one gold Effie), Mudra Communications (one silver Effie), JWT India, Orchard Advertising and FCB-Ulka (one bronze each).

This year, the Ad Club received a total of 46 entries for the awards (far less than last year), of which 19 made it to the second round of judging. "The number of entries weren't numerous," admits Kaushik Roy, executive director, Mudra Communications, and member, Bombay Ad Club. But he adds, "It is not the quantity but the quality of work entered that matters. And in that regard, I am very happy. And let me add that it is really very tough to make it to the final round of judging. The 19 cases that we shortlisted were those that got a score of 60 or more." The cases in question were: Nakshatra, Whirlpool WhiteMagic, Kinetic Style, ICICI Children's Growth Bond, Pepsodent, Cadbury Temptations, Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Shoppers' Stop, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Hitachi Air-conditioners, Kinley, Wheel, Godrej Fairglow, Indica V2, Toyota Qualis, Super Selector and two entries by Philips India.

Of these, the last eight dropped by the wayside during the second round of judging, leaving the final race open to 11 entries from six agencies. It may be recalled that of the 11 case studies, Contract (with Cadbury Temptations, Shoppers' Stop and ICICI Children's Growth Bond) and Leo Burnett India (with Thums Up, Coca-Cola and Hitachi Air-conditioners) accounted for three each. Lowe had two nominations - Pepsodent and ICICI Prudential. JWT (Nakshatra), FCB-Ulka (Whirlpool) and Mudra (Kinetic) had one entry apiece.

In the Consumer Durables category, the shortlisted entries were those of Hitachi, Whirlpool, Nakshatra and Kinetic Style. Nakshatra's ‘creation of a star' fetched JWT India its bronze Effie, while Whirlpool's ‘Mummy ka magic' did the magic for FCB-Ulka (also a bronze Effie). Mudra, for its part, won the silver Effie for its ‘scooterette made for two' campaign for Kinetic Style. And considering that no gold was awarded in this category, for Mudra, the silver is as good as a gold Effie.

The nominations in the Consumer Products category were Temptations, Pepsodent, Thums Up and Coca-Cola. The Tamil Nadu-centric ‘gaana' campaign for Coke won Orchard (Burnett) a bronze. Contract picked up the silver Effie for too-good-to-share Temptations. And Lowe won the gold for Pepsodent's ‘dishoom-dishoom' idea.

In the Services category, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, ICICI Children's Growth Bond and Shoppers' Stop battled for top honours. In this category, neither a bronze nor a silver Effie was awarded. And the gold Effie went - almost predictably - to iContract for its scintillating direct marketing idea for ICICI Children's Growth Bond. And in an embarrassment of riches, the nomination also picked up the Grand Effie and the People's Choice Trophy (decided by the audience at presentation). Incidentally, this year, Effies were to be awarded in one more category - Corporate Advertising. But with just one entry (which didn't even make it to round two), it proved to be a bit of a non-starter.

This has been a great outing for Contract and Lowe. Both improved upon last year - especially Contract. It may be recalled that at last year's inaugural awards, Contract had won both the Grand Effie and the lone gold Effie to be awarded (both for Cadbury's Milk Treat). This time the agency has done one better by adding a silver Effie and the newly constituted popular award. Similarly, for Lowe, this year's gold Effie betters last year's silver for Surf Excel. For FCB-Ulka, this year's bronze matches last year's bronze-winning effort for Tropicana. For JWT, however, this year's bronze Effie is a bit of a climb down - last year, the agency won silver for De Beers.

MTV, O&M and McCann-Erickson - three winners from last year - did not figure in this year's awards, although entries from O&M and McCann (Super Selector and Kinley, respectively) did make it to round two. For the record, Mudra and Leo Burnett/Orchard are first-time entrants into the winners' list this year. Here, it would be pertinent to note that looking at the final tally, Burnett would be a trifle disappointed. The agency was decidedly buoyed by the fact that it had three nominations in the final 11. Yet, at the awards, it was unable to make a strong impact, ending up with just one bronze Effie. © 2002 agencyfaqs!